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Best Cheap DAC Streamer

I have come to possess a fairly high quality setup with Linn Amps and Speakers, but I have no where near the wealth to buy the type of gear discussed on here. (Furthermore, if I did, I hope I would send a good chunk of it to fix cleft plates in India before spending tens of thousands on a stereo.)I tend to do most of my listening from my phone by way of car stereo, ear buds or an $85 JBL Flip speaker. 

I want to set up a home streaming/DAC device that will sound good enough for my ears. I would like the interface to be simple for getting music from a streaming service, with music info available on a display, and I would like it to have a voice activated interface which might encourage me to listen to more music on the stereo at home. I know some of you can't wait to scorn me for my weak listening abilities. Maybe you can skip it this time and let anyone speak up who has some some advice on a system for pretty close to $300 (or less!). I would consider buying used.

charleyprice
hbarrel's avatar
hbarrel
453 posts
 

Good because I am taking back my recommendation. A friend corrected me. 
He sold his Node after, on a whim, trying an Auris Pro. 
It suited his needs and sounded marvelous  

https://theauris.com/pages/blumepro-vs-blumehd

 

halfastro
15 posts
 

I have a WiiM Ultra but I don’t use its DAC. But my friends that do have very good things to say about the Ultra’s DAC. 

blackbag20
562 posts
 

Wiim Ultra ... it's ridiculous 

blackbag20
562 posts
 

... in a good way 

mahler123
3,549 posts
 

I second the Wiim.  I had just added the Pro, which doesn’t have a DAC or do above CD quality, to my basement HT system, which previously was reserved for video and SACD/Blu Rays, but I had a knee replacement 5 weeks ago and was using the bedroom down there for ergonomic reasons and I wanted to be able to stream from Apple and my NAS without having to deal with Physical Media.  For $100 this was an unbelievable audio value and the app is fun.

  Btw I also admire your charitable impulses and I don’t devalue the way that you listen to music.  You care more about sound reproduction than 99% of the rest of the world and and have achieved good results economically.  However I am turned off by the self righteousness .  We all have just a brief amount of time to enjoy our stay here before we turn back into a few grams of carbon.  I always believed that the truly altruistic don’t have to spend their time obsessed with self congratulation and virtue posing

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